Distributed software devt, a key challenge

In the globalised IT environment, most software companies prefer to locate their development and maintenance teams in diverse locations across the world. Cost, availability of talent and round-the-clock support are some of the key advantages behind this.

However, is it possible to provide better service and greater customer satisfaction when the teams are located in different locations? The industry seems to be unanimous in agreeing with this.

Gopalaswamy Ramesh, an independent consultant and an adjunct professor of Anna University, Chennai and IIIT-B says the teams of large organisations across the globe need to be interlocked in such a way as to minimise ramp-up time and optimise communication. He was participating in a conference on 'Software Maintenance: Effective Practices for Geographically Distributed Environments' organised by the Bangalore Management Association on Friday.

"Various dimensions need to be considered while building teams as the customers based in different locations have stringent acceptance norms and geographically-diversified needs," said Ramesh who has authored an award winning book `Managing Global Software Projects?.

Ramesh Bhattiprolu, an industry expert and director of Oracle India Development Centre, Bangalore said that product organisations were well-suited to exploit geographical time differences and global talent to provide better maintenance support to their global customer base. "When you have customers spread across the world, you can't expect all your work to be performed at one location. There is a need to create multiple locations for better customers satisfaction," Bhattiprolu added.

Sharing the success story of Oracle India, Bhattiprolu said, "Though we are about 100 people (in the maintenance team), we maintain all system products that Oracle produces. We cover customers across the globe irrespective of the industry like Amazon, eBay, SAP and Siemens."

Yogesh Dayal, head (communication, energy & utilities), IBM Global Services said people were the key challenges for any global IT company. Their motivation is often affected while working on legacy technologies and a feeling of stagnation develops.